Moral Compass, Planning
Title: Moral Compass, Planning
Spoilers: Off towards the end of the series
Pairing: Alphonse/Kimbley
Notes: This chapter brought to you by a bribe ::grins:: the next chapter should follow thi immediately in context
Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Part Four
Alphonse knew that Kimbley wanted to be resentful, it was something that was easily seen in his eyes at times. Slowly though, as the last of the original drug worked out of his system, the lingering resistance started to falter. He followed the younger alchemist more closely around the house, trying to stay within touching distance near constantly.
He also tried to be subtle while doing this, attention shifting to a glare whenever the blond would look his direction. It might have been more believable if he didn't press into casual touches like a starved thing. About two days after the night he'd crawled into bed with a very much awake caretaker, the neediness of him had taken a dramatic spike.
He no longer protested having his hair brushed, sitting sullenly under the tending, hands clenched in his lap. Brushes to his arm or back drew twitches towards instead of away, and when Alphonse took it upon himself to make sure his charge was cleaned properly, the older alchemist just stood with gritted teeth and closed eyes. The conflict seemed unending to the man, and the blond didn't like it.
He knew that the older man wasn't comfortable when he wasn't being touched in some way. Casual actions were enough to keep him calm, and the sedative affect of the pills was enough to keep him controllable. Neither helped the situation however, since they didn't stop the man from fighting with himself, making it worse by resisting the new needs for touch that were being fostered by his medication. The teen knew that no progress could be made until the older man understood that it was okay to want to be touched.
That was why he was interrupting his own schedule today. He only had two days before his brother was home from his trip, and he wasn't sure that he would really understand that his plans were honestly needed for their house guest to finally get comfortable. Knowing Edward, he'd likely pitch a fit about something or another and get in the way. He was having enough of that from Kimbley himself, he didn't need it from two sources, so that meant that the blond had to use his remaining time alone with the eldest male in the house wisely.
That choice had led to this moment, when he'd steered Kimbley directly from the shower towards the bedroom instead of heading to the kitchen to work on dinner. It was enough for the dark haired man to actually protest. "Wait-"
"Don't worry, you'll get dinner, I just didn't bring your clothes to the bathroom while you were washing." Putting one hand against the fresh bandages that wrapped his torso, against the edge of the wound that should have killed him, was sufficient motivation to get the man moving again. "I just want to see something okay? After that I'll make some soup for you."
"But-"
"No." He knew he wouldn't be able to override the other man so easily if he hadn't been so weakened, but he hoped that if this went well, then the man would be on the path to being less of a danger to him and the people around him. He didn't want to think that his brother was right about the man. "You like soup. You told me you did, so we'll do that for dinner."
Kimbley was gritting his teeth again in response, but no further words passed his lips. That was enough to satisfy Alphonse, since he was sure that the man was being so difficult because he'd gone and changed an established routine on him. It must be rather disorienting since he'd kept things mostly the same since he'd been up and about. He only really changed things when he felt that Kimbley had been overly disagreeable. Like with the lamp.
"You're not in trouble, I just need you to come in here for a little while for me." The words drew an unamused, narrow eyed look, but he seemed to relax a little just the same. The blond wasn't sure what the other long haired man expected him to do sometimes, but he'd given up on wondering. It simply wasn't worth the effort to anticipate him when it wasn't going to come to whatever bad thing he was waiting for anyway.
Shaking his head to clear it from the musings that had crept in while he'd been steering the injured man through the room, he nudged Kimbley down to sit on his bed. It wasn't like the man was really sleeping on it anymore, so it would be alright if it got a bit messed up. Sensing that the man was starting to tense up, he crawled quickly onto the bed himself, hands going to the bare shoulders to push him back against the covers.
He wanted to tell the man that it was okay for him to calm down and relax, but he knew from experience that that would be tantamount to telling the man that he was about to do something foul to him. It wasn't anything personal, but the older alchemist had clearly had a few negative experiences in the past that made it harder for him to accept something good. He'd just have to show him that he meant no harm without saying anything at all.
Spoilers: Off towards the end of the series
Pairing: Alphonse/Kimbley
Notes: This chapter brought to you by a bribe ::grins:: the next chapter should follow thi immediately in context
Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Part Four
Alphonse knew that Kimbley wanted to be resentful, it was something that was easily seen in his eyes at times. Slowly though, as the last of the original drug worked out of his system, the lingering resistance started to falter. He followed the younger alchemist more closely around the house, trying to stay within touching distance near constantly.
He also tried to be subtle while doing this, attention shifting to a glare whenever the blond would look his direction. It might have been more believable if he didn't press into casual touches like a starved thing. About two days after the night he'd crawled into bed with a very much awake caretaker, the neediness of him had taken a dramatic spike.
He no longer protested having his hair brushed, sitting sullenly under the tending, hands clenched in his lap. Brushes to his arm or back drew twitches towards instead of away, and when Alphonse took it upon himself to make sure his charge was cleaned properly, the older alchemist just stood with gritted teeth and closed eyes. The conflict seemed unending to the man, and the blond didn't like it.
He knew that the older man wasn't comfortable when he wasn't being touched in some way. Casual actions were enough to keep him calm, and the sedative affect of the pills was enough to keep him controllable. Neither helped the situation however, since they didn't stop the man from fighting with himself, making it worse by resisting the new needs for touch that were being fostered by his medication. The teen knew that no progress could be made until the older man understood that it was okay to want to be touched.
That was why he was interrupting his own schedule today. He only had two days before his brother was home from his trip, and he wasn't sure that he would really understand that his plans were honestly needed for their house guest to finally get comfortable. Knowing Edward, he'd likely pitch a fit about something or another and get in the way. He was having enough of that from Kimbley himself, he didn't need it from two sources, so that meant that the blond had to use his remaining time alone with the eldest male in the house wisely.
That choice had led to this moment, when he'd steered Kimbley directly from the shower towards the bedroom instead of heading to the kitchen to work on dinner. It was enough for the dark haired man to actually protest. "Wait-"
"Don't worry, you'll get dinner, I just didn't bring your clothes to the bathroom while you were washing." Putting one hand against the fresh bandages that wrapped his torso, against the edge of the wound that should have killed him, was sufficient motivation to get the man moving again. "I just want to see something okay? After that I'll make some soup for you."
"But-"
"No." He knew he wouldn't be able to override the other man so easily if he hadn't been so weakened, but he hoped that if this went well, then the man would be on the path to being less of a danger to him and the people around him. He didn't want to think that his brother was right about the man. "You like soup. You told me you did, so we'll do that for dinner."
Kimbley was gritting his teeth again in response, but no further words passed his lips. That was enough to satisfy Alphonse, since he was sure that the man was being so difficult because he'd gone and changed an established routine on him. It must be rather disorienting since he'd kept things mostly the same since he'd been up and about. He only really changed things when he felt that Kimbley had been overly disagreeable. Like with the lamp.
"You're not in trouble, I just need you to come in here for a little while for me." The words drew an unamused, narrow eyed look, but he seemed to relax a little just the same. The blond wasn't sure what the other long haired man expected him to do sometimes, but he'd given up on wondering. It simply wasn't worth the effort to anticipate him when it wasn't going to come to whatever bad thing he was waiting for anyway.
Shaking his head to clear it from the musings that had crept in while he'd been steering the injured man through the room, he nudged Kimbley down to sit on his bed. It wasn't like the man was really sleeping on it anymore, so it would be alright if it got a bit messed up. Sensing that the man was starting to tense up, he crawled quickly onto the bed himself, hands going to the bare shoulders to push him back against the covers.
He wanted to tell the man that it was okay for him to calm down and relax, but he knew from experience that that would be tantamount to telling the man that he was about to do something foul to him. It wasn't anything personal, but the older alchemist had clearly had a few negative experiences in the past that made it harder for him to accept something good. He'd just have to show him that he meant no harm without saying anything at all.